Brave members of Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club took on 24 physical and mental challenges in 24 hours in a bid to raise money for End Polio Now and The Rotary Foundation at the weekend.

The club has a history of weird and wacky fundraising ideas including The Big Climb, which saw members climb the outside climbing wall at Longridge 256 times, the equivalent of base camp to the summit of Everest; and not to mention taking on the Thames Path Challenge - a gruelling 50k walk against time from Runnymede to Henley. But this is going to be their biggest challenge to date!

Members took part in a wide range of challenges starting at 8am on Saturday and finishing at 8am on Sunday at The Magnet Leisure Centre. The challenges included, but wasn’t limited to:

Squash

Spinning

Ballet

Indoor football

Cheerleading

Body Combat

Tennis

Yoga

Rollerskating

Clubbercise

Swimming

Zumba

Why? The Rotary Foundation, Rotary’s own charity, is celebrating 100 years in 2017 and this is a great way to raise money so that Rotary can continue doing good in the world. During the past 100 years, the Foundation has spent $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects. This challenge was just one way to raise money so the club can make lives better in your community and around the world.

Lisa Hunter, event organiser commented “It had to be the toughest thing I have ever done but I am so proud of myself, as well as fellow club members Mike and Elisa-Jade, for successfully getting through the full 24 challenges in one piece! The funds raised are going to make such a difference to people’s lives, not only right here in Maidenhead, but all over the world. It’s one of the reasons I joined Rotary, to be able to make an impact and make a positive difference. I’m not going to lie, I was worried about doing my first ever spinning class but that was great fun, however body combat 12 hours in was most definitely a challenge, especially as I punched myself in the face!”

A total of 27 club members took part at some point, along with their children. It was a great day, members had lots of fun and have raised over £1,500 for the charities in the process too! However you can still support the club by sponsoring the team here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/24Challenges

Lisa continued “We would like to say a massive thank you to The Magnet Leisure Centre for letting us use their facilities, to all the instructors who gave up their time to facilitate a sessions for us including Gemma Rose Thomas (yoga), Ian Walker (Spinning), Leah Evans from The Cheerleading Academy, Niki Kitt from Clubbercise Maidenhead with Niki, Dorn Kipping (Body Combat), Michelle Andrews (cycling) and Mariya Kaloferova (Zumba) – we really could not have done it without you.”